This application relates to a method and system which provides the mortgage Consumer an inclusive “do-it-yourself” mortgage loan process whereas the Consumer is granted a means to complete a mortgage loan unassisted from the application to the closing. As is evident in the recent turmoil within the mortgage industry, blamed mostly on the sub-prime market, the industry is due for a change or again we will see history repeat itself. Prior art in this industry concentrates on creating tools to assist the broker, but the tools are only as good as the individual using them. One will discover throughout the World Wide Web indefinite online mortgage applications vaguely disguised as the means for a potential borrower to get a mortgage loan through whatever “mortgage company” that ultimately won the coin toss and ends up being the potential borrower's decision maker. This online process only gives the potential Consumer the ability to attempt to complete some sort of application, when in truth it is just another form of lead generation for the mortgage broker, loan officer or Mortgage Company. The majority of the time this “on-line” process is nothing more than a veiled attempt for the accumulation of mortgage leads that basically end up with mortgage brokers or loan officers paying for these “mortgage leads” as their means of sourcing mortgage business. Once a lead is paid for, the broker or loan officer begin a barrage of phone calls to potential borrowers in an attempt to acquire borrower's mortgage loan in order to not only pay for the lead that was purchased, but to also gain financially from closing the particular loan. Numerous problems arise from the mentioned scenario, but the most detrimental being the financial gain of the mortgage professional over the needs of the consumer.
Particularly, the present invention establishes a Consumer controlled exclusive mortgage environment that completely eliminates the tasks and fees associated with employing the services of mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, loan officers, loan originators and Federally Chartered Banks that is today's norm, and bestows all control and the ability to complete a mortgage loan to the Consumer. Incorporated within the system is a module designed specifically for automated loan monitoring for continuous on-demand consumer support and to maintain strict adherence to the ever changing Federal and State Finance laws, a government monitoring portal is coupled with the system to allow interminable compliance auditing.
The present invention was developed to revolutionize an archaic mortgage process that is plagued with inconsistencies, human error, intentional consumer loan fraud, and complete consumer mistrust of the mortgage process in general and the professionals within the industry. A laymen's definition of mortgages would be, “the process of acquiring a home loan”, but this process is much more complex than this definition and even more mysterious and confusing to the Consumer, because of the wide variety of products and programs being offered by the lenders and the inept professionals in the industry presenting these offers to the Consumer, without the Consumer's best interest at in mind. In the mortgage industry potential borrowers are either seeking a loan for a home purchase: first home, second home, investment home or they are attempting to refinance (obtain a new loan) an existing loan for a piece of property that they have previously financed or they own.
In the home purchase process the potential Consumer either, locates a home of interest and seeks to get it financed or they will attempt to get approved for a mortgage and then locate a property of interest based on the approval. This appears to be a simple process, but conflicts arise when the professionals involved in the process, Real Estate Agents/Realtors and Mortgage Professionals, compete to acquire the business of obtaining the mortgage for the potential Consumer. You have the Real Estate Agent, while a professional in their industry, however has limited knowledge in the mortgage industry; basically the agent has taken the hours needed to get a brokers or originators license, attempting to do the mortgage for their client, basically attempting to create a one-stop-shop which will enable the agent to be compensated on the real estate sale and the mortgage financing, while competing with the Mortgage professional for the same business. This competition usually is at the expense of the potential borrower by receiving misleading or misguided information only to facilitate the sale for the Real Estate Agent or the Mortgage Broker. The borrower is now being given offers and promises that usually do not exist and it is not discovered until it is too late, usually at the day of closing and due to time constraints will reluctantly close to avoid “loosing their Ernest Money Deposit” and face civil actions to force the closing.
In the mortgage refinance, the borrower is attempting to get a better interest rate than was received on the original loan, is attempting to get money out of the equity of their home or property, is trying to consolidate bills in order to better their personal finance picture, is attempting to obtain a second mortgage, or is attempting to obtain a home equity line of credit. The potential borrower is confronted with a barrage of telemarketing calls, deceiving advertisements, and again flagrant promises that cannot be fulfilled. Basically, it is the mortgage professional versus the mortgage professional trying to gain business, promising the potential borrower anything that will get the business, with the consumer's objectives and concerns last on the list of priorities, all to the detriment of the consumer who needs the transaction to be completed.
Prior art in the mortgage industry is directly focused on improving the efficiency of mortgage professionals in general, but these tools of efficiency are easily neglected as long as said professional can easily acquire a simple mortgage application, which technically all that is needed to perform the task of completing a mortgage loan. So, lost in the mortgage process, no matter what tools of efficiency are developed, is customer service, professionalism, expertise, expediency, and a lot of times honesty proven by the fact that it is common practice for a mortgage professionals to defend themselves initially with potential Consumer's based on prior horrendous mortgage experiences or stories of such experiences. In essence, a consumer is concerned about being misled in his present transaction based on the actions of a prior broker, loan officer, or originator, even when dealing with a sincere and scrupulous lender.
Furthermore, the mortgage process, in some instances, takes as much as 45 days to complete, because of the part-time broker, unprofessional broker, or in some cases the lenders representatives hinder the time factor, because of being overworked, unprofessional work ethics, loosing or misplacing customer's sensitive documents, or not having complete knowledge of their products. The consumer ends up frustrated with the process, because the consumers life as they know it is being put on hold during this process, but feels trapped or committed, because he has already submitted documents, given out personal information, or basically does not know how to rectify the situation.
Consumer loan fraud is rampant within the mortgage industry as can be validated by the records of closed mortgage businesses, heavy fines being handed down, and in some cases individual prosecutions. Of course this can be accredited to lack of knowledge of laws in the state where the mortgage is being done, lack knowledge of federal banking laws, the professional breaking the rules for personal gain, or basically the consumer is not qualified for the mortgage loan through the conventional process. Whatever the reason, it affects not only the consumer, but the whole industry in general is affected when compliance is not followed. Regularly mortgage lenders are shutting their doors due to poor practices resulting in monetary fines being imposed.
Although archaic, the process is supposed be simple: the potential borrower wants a mortgage. They locate a mortgage professional they were referred to and feel confident in. A mortgage application is taken, credit is run, the mortgage professional shops the loan with different lenders in search of the best deal to present their clients, make the presentation, collect the documents that are required to get the loan closed, get the loan conditions signed off by the lender, and schedule a closing.
Consequently, from the consumer's perspective, a mortgage system is desired in which total control of the decisions and the loan outcome are granted to the consumer, complete confidence in the loan process is realized, on demand response and expeditious service is guaranteed to the consumer. This invention will give the decision making control to the borrower, ensuring all loans are state and federal complaint, and remove all human intervention that has for decades hindered the mortgage lending process.